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One of my favorite sources for beads is Fire Mountain Gems. They have an enormous selection of stuff, a HUGE catalog (over 400 pages), and so many things to spark ideas that you can use in your needlepoint.

Here’s an assortment of some from my recent thinking with links to the products.

A new product for them is clear glass cabochons. If you don’t know a cabochon has a rounded face and a flat back. That means they will lie flat on your needlepoint. They suggest using paper behind them, but why not use them for 3-D eyes? Or use a pretty paper behind it and make it the center of a flower. The cabochons come in a variety of sizes in round or oval shapes.

They also have some stunning buttons made from Czech pressed glass. There are different styles and sizes with shanks. As we know from the embellished Christmas tree, pull the shank through a hole in the canvas and secure it on the back. Some of the designs could make great flowers and I could see my favorite, the iridescent dragonflies as a lovely focal point in some geometric borders.

I also found some cool square mini-donut beads. They are flat and have large holes in the center. You could pick a strong perle cotton and sew them on decoratively. Their bright colors and smooth surface would be a nice accent to your stitching.

For regular beads they have wonderful selections of pressed glass Czech beads, Swarovski crystals, and more kinds of seed beads than you thought possible. Among the most intriguing are Tila beads, two-hole seed beads from Miyuki (makers of Delica beads). I find their wide flat shape fascinating and I keep thinking about ways to use them.

I often find stitching flowers challenging and so I really loved the flower beads in polymer clay (scroll down to see them). There are several types of flowers in many colors. The wouldn’t work for a floral focal point, but what if you had a small bouquet in your piece, or a garland of roses, or some scattered flowers. I have a piece in my stash that has flowers on it and I’m using the yellow roses for it.

There are also some great ideas for finishing as well. I just love the hook style book marks. Instead of a bead at the end, put a needlepoint Inchie or other small bit of stitching.

There’s lots more where these came from so, go visit and think beyond the usuual.

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Thinking beyond the Usual for Embellishments

More Shadow Stitching – book review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2004-03-17 07:23:21. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

dede Ogden, self-published, 2005

dede’s canvases are well-known for their lovely shaded painting and many stitchers have asked her about ways to stitch these canvases without needing to blend colors. She developed Shadow Stitching as a way to stitch them easily, by allowing the painting to show through and to do the shading for you.

Her method is simple, use a thinner thread than usual and pick the middle value of the colors used. Her book includes a clear chart for picking thread sizes as well as lots of hints on how to stitch using this method.

The heart of the book is the many stitched she has charted. Each stitch has its own page, with a large clear numbered diagram. The text for each stitch includes stitching suggestions, hints about the stitch (large patterns are pointed out) and ideas for doing
variations. Reading through the book I found five stitches I want to use on current projects.

A wonderful bonus at the end of the book is a bag with color pictures of many canvases dede has stitched using this technique. From abstract designs, to flower portraits, these pictures make a wonderful gallery of the applications of the technique. You can clearly see how shadow stitching works on projects as small as a pink ribbon to larger pictures.

This book is a wonderful introduction to the technique as well as an additional resource for stitchers who have done shadow stitching in the past.

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More Shadow Stitching – book review

Knots, Fur and Turkeywork – book review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2006-08-18 08:46:18. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Meredith Barnhill Willett and Beth Robertson, self-
pubished, 2005, ISBN 0-9770592-0-0.

The full-color book covers three important techniques in needlepoint which frustrate
many stitchers, including me.

Many canvases feature hair or fur. There are so many kinds of knots, it’s amazing. But how
often do we avoid doing looped or pile stitches, or settle for the only knot we know how to
do?

Settle no more. There are tons of ideas and each one not only has a diagram, it has
detailed instructions, and a color photograph of the stitch, many in currently available
canvases.

Many stitches also have introductions which discuss ways to vary the stitch or best uses.
Each chapter has a section which introduces the type of stitch. There is also an index.

Finally, this has to be one of the most beautiful self-published needlepoint books around.

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Knots, Fur and Turkeywork – book review

Eye Candy – Kyoto Costume Institute

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Most people don’t think of clothing as being a good source of inspiration for needlepoint, but it’s one of my favorite places to find color and motif ideas.

Especially high fashion (I once did a needlepoint inspired by a picture of a designer gown) and, even better, historic clothing.

The Kyoto Costume Institute has an amazing set of digital archives that’s full of inspiration.

And they aren’t just Japanese clothes, they span a range from the Eighteenth Century to today and incorporate tons of styles.

Why not use the stunning evening cape by Elsa Schiaparelli to inspire a gold and black fantasy of needlepoint. Or the boisterous floral print of a Victorian evening gown to color a fresh floral piece. It will look bright and modern, even though the gown that inspired it is over 150 years old.

Not only can you learn alot about fashion, you’ll get lots of ideas for new pieces.

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Eye Candy – Kyoto Costume Institute

Use Giant Cookie Cutters for the Basis of Great Needlepoint

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

While I am a pretty good cook and baker one thing I’m NOT good with is rolled out and decorated cookies. Even so, I see a lovely one (or even a silly one) and I wish I could do this.

But you can use a great cookie cutter as the basis for a charming needlepoint. That’s what I used to make the button-covered tree pictured here.

First look for a large cookie cutter without too many details. Off the Beaten Path has tons classified by shape, including some 8″ giants. On every page I found something that would be so fun to use.

Once you have selected your cutter put in on the front of your needlepoint canvas and trace around the outside with an extra-thin permanent marker, such as a Pigma Micron or a Sharpie. Let dry overnight.

Now you are ready to stitch. If you want it to look like a real cookie begin by stitching a border, 3-5 stitches wide using floss or silk in a “cookie” color. The rest of the area fill in with solid, mostly matte threads to be your “icing”.

You can then embellish the stitching with bugle beads (sprinkles), seed beads (decorative sugar or shot), brads (candy disks) couching (lines of icing) or other items.

I have a general stitch guide with ideas for stitching cookies available as a PDF for $3.00. Purchase using the button below.

If you would like a custom line-drawn canvas with stitch guide for making your own Christmas cookie, please contact me. Prices for this begin at $15 plus shipping and tax in CA).
If you don’t want it to look realistic (I didn’t on this one) stitch in whatever thread or stitch your heart desires. I used a dark Watercolours and then almost covered the tree with buttons from Just Another Button Company.

The cookie cutter shape doesn’t have much detail, so you need to be sure to add it using stitches or embellishments.

But this is a great way to make unique small needlepoint quickly and economically.

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Use Giant Cookie Cutters for the Basis of Great Needlepoint

Glorious Example of Stumpwork & You Can Learn it Too!

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

My friend Kelly Clark has been exploring stumpwork on needlepoint canvas. If you’ve never heard of it, stumpwork is the name for three-dimensional embroidery. It was very popular in the Seventeenth Century, and has been revived in the last 20 years or so.

Stumpwork is glorious, but it’s often frustrating for needlepointers. Virtually all books on the technique are for embroidery on cloth. So you need to translate them for needlepoint.

Kelly has been exploring this and she has a great in-depth post on the various stumpwork techniques she has applied to the garland of Rebekkah (pictured here).

Visit her blog post to learn about what she has done in detail.

Best of all she is doing this canvas along with others as a special series for The Needleworks in Austin.

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Glorious Example of Stumpwork & You Can Learn it Too!

How to Make Twisted Cord

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

Originally posted 2008-09-20 07:28:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Kootoyou has posted a how-to, with a video, on how to make twisted cord. Check it out!

See the article here:
How to Make Twisted Cord

Canvas Clips – Product Review

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint,tools

If you don’t mount your needlepoint on a frame, you have an on-going problem. I find that I feel as though I’m battling with the canvas all the time to find the place where I am stitching. I’m afraid I’ll stitch the canvas to itself and get cramps in my hands from scrunching up the canvas.

Canvas Clips from Dream House Ventures can solve many of these problems. The package has two pairs of clips in it, small and large. Like bobby pins, they are wavy on one side and straight on the other.

You use the by rolling the canvas and placing them (wavy side in) at either end. This creates a smaller item to hold and protects the canvas from the wear scrunching it can cause.

I tried the clips on two different canvases and compared it to stitching the same canvas without clips. By and large they did what they are supposed to do; made the canvas easier to hold while making the area to be stitched clearly visible.

One of the canvases I used is an older canvas so it is very soft. While the clips did keep the piece in a roll, it still flopped around. Although it was easier to stitch, the flopping meant that the clip on the end away from where I was stitching popped out, repeatedly. Admittedly this canvas is in very bad shape, but this is something to note because not all canvases will have a good tight fit.

The second canvases was newer. There were no problems here with the clips coming off; they worked beautifully. However newer canvas still has lots of sizing in it. It still kept the roll after I removed the clips, so even my stitching without them went well.

This is a great and useful tool for those who like to stitch their needlepoint in hand.

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Canvas Clips – Product Review

Why Stitch Light Threads First?

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Nuts About Needlepoint

bunny baby needlepoint gift, stitched by needlepoint expert janet m perry

It’s one of the truisms of needlepoint: Stitch the light threads before the dark ones.

I figured for a long time that this was leftover from the days when we only stitched in wool. Wool, being fuzzy, has fibers that can get caught in later stitches. A but of dark fibers in a light thread dirties the color. A bit of light fiber in a dark thread does not.

Then, since I didn’t stitch with wool so much, I didn’t worry about it.

But look at my recently completed bunny piece. Some darker threads needed to travel from letter to letter or from face to face. But they don’t show through the lighter fur and background.

Why?

I stitched the lighter colors first. By doing this I create not only a stitched front, but a covered back. Now, the dark thread passes over three layers (stitch front, canvas, stitch back) instead of just one (canvas). You can see it in this picture of the back of the canvas.

back of stitched needlepoint canvas

This accomplished several things:

I don’t stitch over the dark traveling thread so it doesn’t get caught in the lighter thread.
By not stitching over the dark thread, that thread doesn’t get pressed against the canvas.
Finally, no “shadows” of the dark thread are seen through the canvas because there are more layers of thread between the traveling thread and the viewer.

When beginning and ending threads, always do this in an area the same color or darker. Because passing through the backs of stitches removes many of these benefits.

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Why Stitch Light Threads First?

Can I Use Needlepoint Thread for Other Needlecrafts?

by NutsAboutNeedlepoint

in Crochet,Knitting,Nuts About Needlepoint,Weaving

Over the weekend I came across a question about using needlepoint thread for other crafts.

Trying other needlecrafts is a great way to use up your stash, especially to use for practice when you are learning. So today we’ll talk about that, forst with some general considerations then with some additional stuff for specific crafts.

First off, use your uncut skeins for this. For most other needlecrafts, you need long pieces of thread. Our cut lengths of 18 inches to a yard won’t work.

Second, when learning almost any needlecraft, single strand threads work better than stranded threads because the thread is easier to pick up cleanly. Save your stranded stuff for something else.

Third, try to match the thread thickness you use with the thickness of other threads used for this craft. You wouldn’t tat with tapestry wool, nor would you learn crochet with #12 perle. Look on the Internet or go to a local shop to find the weight of thread used.

Fourth, pick middle to light values. Dark threads are harder to see when it’s completed and you need it as a reference.

Fifth, you probably won’t have enough thread for a project, so go out and buy the recommended thread here.

Now on to the specifics:

Weaving: I have a baby blanket my mom wove out of #5 perle cotton. Weaving uses LOTS of yarn, so you probably don’t have enough. The warp (vertical) threads are under great tension so you need something such as perle or linen for the warp. You almost certainly will need to buy this thread. Anything can go for the weft (horizontal) threads.

Embroidery of all kinds: Of course you can use needlepoint threads, even cut ones for this.

Punchneedle: Here is where you will want to use your stranded threads (1-3 strands of floss is common here) and crewel wool.

Rug Hooking: If you are doing rug hooking with yarn rather than strips of cloth, pick thicker threads, such as tapestry wool.

Tatting & lacemaking: These need very fine threads, so look at you thinnest, single strand threads, such as #8 or #12 perle in cotton or silk.

Temari: Perle #5 and metallics are both wonderful for temari and are among the most common threads used for the decorative part. I have also successfully used crewel wool instead of sewing thread for the top of the wrapped ball. It’s a more rustic look but very cool.

Knitting & Crochet: Just about anything that follows the general rules will work here. In fact, many of the threads we love for needlepoint also live under other names as yarns for knitting & crochet. Silk & Ivory is a knitting yarn, for example. Other threads, such as tapestry wool are the same weight as knitting yarns (it’s about a worsted weight yarn).

So go ahead, use your stash and branch out into other crafts.

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Can I Use Needlepoint Thread for Other Needlecrafts?

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